This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1961. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could fund a cleanup — and recover costs already spent.

Why Historical Insurance Policies May Be Accessible

Pre-1986 Commercial General Liability (CGL) policies were occurrence-based and did not contain an effective pollution exclusion in Washington. If contamination occurred while those policies were active, those historical insurance carriers may still have a legal obligation to fund the cleanup costs, even if the business closed or the property changed hands.

The petroleum hydrocarbon contamination at this site traces directly to gasoline USTs that were in operation from at least 1961 — a full quarter-century before 1986, when occurrence-based CGL policies were still the industry norm and carried no effective pollution exclusion. Carriers who issued CGL policies to Chevron or its station operators during those pre-1986 decades wrote coverage for exactly the kind of gradual subsurface petroleum release documented here. The ongoing groundwater monitoring program, alongside the prior excavation and extraction work, represents a documented cost trail that those historical policies may be obligated to fund.

Restorical's role is to locate viable historical policies, determine whether a successful coverage claim is possible, and assist our clients and their legal counsel to obtain insurance coverage. Restorical then manages the claim, including accounting, to ensure the cleanup is funded in a timely manner.